And a few years ago, a significant number of students at one of the major US universities were unable to list all 50 US states, find Romania on a world map, accurately state the number of justices in the supreme court, or find solutions to simple math problems. Another example: Years ago I inherited some 1920's third through sixth grade "readers", and a few fifth and sixth grade "arithmetic workbooks", from an uncle who taught in rural schools for forty years. Looking at those old text books suggests that elementary students, one hundred years ago, could probably have answered those questions with ease. Today? Look around - and weep.